1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage apparatus, which may be used, for example, to store sentimental memorabilia, such as files containing text, sound or pictures.
2. Description of Related Art
With the increasingly prevalent use of computers in modern life, electronic storage and transmission of messages, sound recordings and visual images are, to some extent, replacing the erstwhile conventional tangible storage and transmission media for such information, such as letters, tape recordings or photographs. However, while people have traditionally retained a degree of sentimental attachment for certain tangible objects, generally speaking the majority of people do not have a similar sentimental attachment to electronically stored information. A letter or photograph which is evocative of certain emotions is likely to become more precious to the owner over time as it becomes increasingly worn. Part of this attachment may reasonably be said to be created precisely by the relatively perishable nature of the artefact; its relatively ephemeral nature making it yet more precious. In any event, the tangible form of such keepsakes render them distinct in the minds of most people from similar information stored electronically.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a storage apparatus which effectively seeks to provide a tangible vehicle for enabling the establishment of emotional attachment to electronically stored information.
An aspect of the present invention provides a storage apparatus comprising: a container in which artefacts may be stored and which may be opened and closed thereby to enable artefacts to be placed inside or removed from the container, or to retain artefacts safely inside the container, a plurality of artefacts, each of which has a unique identification tag; an electronic memory containing a file corresponding to each of the artefacts in the container; an identification reader which identifies the tag of a particular artefact, and generates and identification signal accordingly; at least one monitor, a processor connected to the identification reader, the processor being adapted to receive an identification signal, to retrieve the file corresponding to the artefact identified by the identification signal, and to pass the file to the monitor in a manner which enables the information stored in the file to be assimilated by a user.
Typically the container will mimic a lockable jewellery box within which a plurality of artefacts are stored, and the monitor or monitors will be provided in the lid. In one embodiment of the present invention the tag on the artefact is an rf tag, of a type known per se, which actuates the identification reader (and thereafter the processor to cause the information to be appropriately rendered for the monitor) when the lid is opened and the artefact is removed from the box.
The monitor may be either a visual or aural monitor, and in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, both types of monitor are provided simultaneously. In one embodiment of the present invention the artefacts are identical, while in another the artefacts will be distinct, and typically visually distinct, although another sensory mechanism may be used to distinguish one artefact from another, such as sound, touch or smell for example.